Siren's Call
by Danielle
Summary: When one of the members of SeaQuest resigns his friends miss him but think nothing more of it. What is really going on? I apologize for taking so long to put the last chapter up. My Bad :)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own the television series called SeaQuest, or any rights to its characters. This is a non profit story written for fun. Rating: pg-13 Characters: Tony Piccolo and others. Summary: When one of the members of SeaQuest resigns his friends miss him but think nothing more of it. Will this member ever return, will he remain alive long enough to return? What is really going on? Genre: Fantasy/Angst/Drama.I hope that covers it, but I'm not sure Drama should be in there. Warnings: This story deals with forced captivity and fantasy.should be good eh?  
  
Author's notes: I've had this on my computer for a while and finally decided that I was just going to finish it and post the thing. So, with that pointed out I feel the end comes quickly and is rather roughly written. I apologise for that. Please enjoy and please, lets have some more Tony stories people! He's such a great character to work with! I would also like to say that through creative licence a 'Siren' is not associated with females and the title should become clear in the end ;)  
  
Siren's Call  
  
  
  
It was a beautiful set-up, probably one of the finest in the world. The design and detail were so well put together it took your breath away upon first glance. He hadn't known what to expect, though it had always promised to be good. Dustan Miner was not someone who put his money into useless things, it didn't matter that he was one of the wealthiest people on the planet and had an extremely expensive hobby: The collection of exotic sea creatures.  
  
Of course the term exotic tended to be translated into Illegal these days. Or endangered. That was how he'd met Dustan twelve years ago, at the black market in old Manchester England. It was very secretive and usually only frequented through special invite. He himself had been looking for some subsystem computer mumbo jumbo. He couldn't recall exactly what it was that had held his attention that day. Dustan had been examining some rare fish, a reddish spiky creature that was supposedly poisonous and almost extinct except for the few wildlife colonies that were trying to breed them back into abundance.  
  
He and Dustan had had lunch together, and it had turned out that they got along quite well despite their different interests. He learned that Dustan's riches had come to him quite legally, through the death of his father at the age of 93. There had been quite the age difference between father and son, about sixty-five years. Being the only son Dustan received all profit and power that was wrapped into Miner Maker Industries, who provided most materials for building to the UEO and many other large and profitable organizations as well as owning a mini-sub manufacturing plant. Dustan had sold out at fifty billion in profits to himself alone.  
  
Then he'd entered into the world of aquamarine, still having strong ties with the material industry he'd designed and built some of the most elaborate and environmentally friendly public aquariums currently in running order. They also sided as an endangered species protection area and medicinal research. Quite the combo but it worked flawlessly and every year since he'd continued to reel in the money.  
  
Of course all that was good and great, but Dustan's pride and joy existed in his personal aquarium, one hundred acres worth of land on his island in the tropics, which had been built into enormous holding tanks for creatures of all sizes. He had not one but two beluga whales which he was attempting to breed, two humpbacks and three Orcas as the largest in his collection, if one were to exclude the several species of sharks. The creature's homes were built to mimic the ocean they came from. The temperatures were adjusted to the season's they were supposed to be in, the water currents changing with the regular ocean pattern based on the moon. The whale tanks were up to forty feet deep in spots, being built into the ground for structural integrity.  
  
The entire complex was covered by a roof , which allowed natural sunlight to filter in and at the same time restricting view from prying eyes and satellite sensors. However, it was just the excessively large tanks which were held close to the surface, the underground addition of the complex was just as, if not more magnificent. You could only enter the complex with strict security codes and, of course, invitation, which was limited.  
  
Driving through the luxurious corridors lined with glass walls on the side and overhead in spots that were filled with many assortments of sea life. Coral growing in an abundance of shapes and colours in most tanks, fish of all kinds and sizes darting through it and swimming around. They stopped at each one and Dustan would explain which species was what and everything else he wanted to know. You see he'd graduated at the top of his class in marine biology, physiology and anatomic structure on all living things. He was the scientist of his beloved facility, the doctor to all the creatures in it and perhaps one of the most knowledgeable of people on the planet when it came to anything that lived under the surface. Sometimes it was quite overwhelming.  
  
Despite all this he was well aware of Dustan Miner's ability to be cruel when he wanted and had always made sure to remain on his good side.  
  
"Now Farren, this here is the preserved carcass of the now extinct Blue Whale, also known as the Sibaldus Musculus. There are only two others preserved on the entire planet." Farren stared at the giant body floating in a tank, he couldn't even see the entire thing. Dustan continued driving their sleek cart along the tank, passing the fluke. "now this one is only twenty-four meters long, however they have been catalogued at thirty meters and weighing 150 tons. They were the largest mammals that ever lived." They'd reached the head now, a small beady black eye clouded over with death long ago. Yet as Farren looked at it he could feel the wisdom the creature had held, a giant from the ancients, passing on knowledge through generations. Shame there was no more of them.  
  
"That's quite impressive Dustan. How the hell did you get it down here?" Dustan smiled.  
  
"It's all in the engineering." He suddenly stopped the cart Farren looked ahead and noticed that the massive blue corridor had come to an end, a solid metal door with a blue half sphere emerging from its centre. Dustan jumped out of the cart, his black hair seeming to reflect the aquatic blues around them. He placed his well-manicured hand on the blue orb and waited a moment. The orb turned green and he got back into the cart, grinning in anticipation. The door slid open and they drove through.  
  
"Isn't your security tight enough? What have you got back here?"  
  
"My most prized possession, and let me tell you how hard he was to obtain." Farren raised his eyebrow. "The male narwhale was like picking an apple off a low branch in an orchard." And if he remembered correctly the Narwhale incident had almost ended Dustan's collection permanently, at least that was what the authorities had tried to do. Of course it hadn't worked, there was too much politics involved in him.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You'll see." They rounded a corner and stopped, Dustan getting off the cart and walking to the passenger side, helping Farren out of the vehicle and handing him his cane. They walked through a door and into a room, the glass wall of a brightly lit tank stood in front of them about seven meters in width and three meters high. Farren gazed past the glass and gasped.  
  
"Amazing isn't he?"  
  
"How is it possible?"  
  
"Nature at it's best."  
  
"So it's all natural?"  
  
"I don't carry fakes Farren."  
  
"Of course not, I'm just.shocked. Where did you find him?"  
  
"On a submarine if you could believe that. They had him walking around and working as though he were just another member of the ship. I don't think any of them realize what he truly is. Have a seat." Dustan pulled two simple cushioned chairs out and they sat down, just gazing at the creature that hadn't realized they were there yet, seemingly occupied with something happening on the other side of the tank, his back turned to them.  
  
Farren took his time admiring the beauty, by far the most exotic piece in Dustan's entire collection. His body was pale white from lack of real sun, the fake lighting feeding his body with needed nutrients but not providing anything in the way of colour. His back was well muscled, noticeable when he moved slightly, his blond/brown hair about three inches long floated around his head like a halo, swaying in a current provided by some pumps hidden in the tank.  
  
He was sitting on a large rock surface that was a two feet off the ground, held in place by another rock pillar and balanced perfectly, like an alter or display surface. Which it was. Rising onto his knees the creature still faced the opposite wall, now his legs almost fully visible, covered in a skin tight material to mid thigh then long strips hung off it dangling down his legs where they were tied around mid calf and then flaring out loosely in the water, creating a fin like image. The material shimmered slightly in the light, the colour of a golden red, blending nicely with his hair.  
  
And on both sides of his abdomen were three gill slits rising and falling with every inhalation of water. Finally the creature sat back on the rock, whatever was captivating his attention before seeming to have left he twisted around to lie back and saw them staring at him. He was only about four meters away from the glass wall, but his eyes which slit with anger, glared at them unremittingly. The colour was unsure at this distance but the hate was clearly noticeable. Then the being raised a hand to them and held down all fingers but the middle one. Now that was an offensive gesture, and one Farren had not seen in a while.  
  
He felt Dustan frown beside him.  
  
"We're still trying to iron out his more undesirable tendencies." The creature in the tank slipped off the rock stool and sat on its opposite side, obscuring his body so they couldn't watch him anymore.  
  
"I take it he did not join your collection willingly." Farren stated, somewhat amused and Dustan chuckled, his humour returning.  
  
"No he did not, and if you ask him he still hasn't 'joined' my collection. He'll learn."  
  
"How long has he been here?"  
  
"Two months."  
  
"And the extra security around him is to make sure no one knows you've kidnapped a water breathing officer of the UEO?"  
  
"Partly. The man's also not stupid. He hasn't been trained in a lot of things but he watches and learns very well. Two escape attempts have almost succeeded." Farren let out a low whistle; Dustan's security was top of the line.  
  
"Tell me more about how you work with him." Dustan visibly perked up, anything about how he handles his pets was always a choice topic.  
  
"The tank you saw him in is a small display tank, we've been renovating his last one which is much larger for the past week. It should be complete in another two days. It's attached to an aqua tunnel which we use to send different animals in and examine how they interact. A month ago we had a tursiops trunactus in with him, that's a bottle-nose dolphin, it went well, they got along fine. Unfortunately the authorities managed to confiscate the creature. I'm not sure how, the lawyers know but I couldn't be bothered. I'm getting another one in two weeks." He stood up and went to the wall beside the tank, activating a video projection of the man/fish. The image of the body turned slowly on the screen.  
  
"As you can see by this diagram he contains a normal set of lungs meant for atmospheric respiration, completely separate from his gills. Now, when he is submerged he sucks water in through his mouth and it travels down his trachea, this is where it gets interesting: where his trachea divides into bronchial tubes to send air into his two lungs he actually has a third passage! When he breathes water the two bronchial are closed off with a valve, much like the epiglottis closes off food from entering the trachea. This third passage has built its way behind his heart and other organs, changing from the hard cartilage into a soft rubbery type of flesh. Water passes through this tube easily and the tube divides, traveling up and between the eleventh and twelfth ribs, the floating rib. On a normal human this would seem impossible except that the flexible tube is supported through the ribs with a set of muscles that don't even exist on a normal human being.  
  
"From here the tube flows into a strong but thin membranous sac that is pressed between the external oblique muscles and the three gill slits. Now the water is pressed thin and forced out of the gills back into the surrounding water. Each gill is branched with feathery like tissue filled with tiny blood vessels near their surface, the oxygen in the water is absorbed into these blood vessels and transported throughout the body, allowing him to breath under water." Farren was about to comment when Dustan continued excitedly, completely caught up in his lecture, and though Farren didn't understand most of what he was saying he simply pretended to be interested. His business was technology, not biology.  
  
"You're probably wondering 'how' enough oxygen is transported through his blood stream with only three gills on each side, the answer is quite simple: For one his gills are large, passing enough water through them to support most of his body. Another benefit is that he can manually pull the water in through his mouth without the aid of continuous movement. Unlike a shark which must swim or it can't push the water through his gills. Another thing that factors in is physical fitness.  
  
"As you might have noticed he's in fair shape, and the better shape he's in the easier he breathes, it's a natural instinct to be fit. Breathing water, because of the slightly slower absorption rate compared to air, requires approximately twenty percent more energy than regular lung breathing, which makes this guy chalk full of extra energy when he is awake and out of the water."  
  
"So you do remove him from the tank."  
  
"Oh quite frequently. He gets a fair amount of exercise out of the water, we have him running treadmills and working in a gym on top of what he usually does with swimming to keep in shape. And of course I'm studying him every way possible: behaviour, food, instincts, how his body works etc. You know the UEO actually used him as a basic diagram to give regular people gills!"  
  
"And it worked?"  
  
"Oh for a while. There was a scientist a few years back who turned all his children into fish people, they've all passed away now sadly. The UEO changed two more into gill functioning humans. One died a few months later and the other about a month ago. You see it's not a matter of simply turning someone into a water-breathing creature, it's the entire body you have to change! That's one hell of a shock to the system and as far as I can tell the UEO didn't even get to some of the important changes. Like the skin for example, in order to sustain long periods under water it has to be able to absorb and expel the water enough to remain at a constant H2O state. You spend too much time in the water you flesh turns wrinkly, after that your skin bloats. And vision is also important, water being denser to look through the eyes must be able to focus differently than when out of the water. Tony here has a slight problem with dyslexia because of it but it appears he's been able to work through it."  
  
"Fascinating Dustan. This Tony being has appeared to be quite the investment." Dustan stood and helped Farren to his feet, sensing that the man had had enough of hearing about his pet science project.  
  
"Worth every penny, if only he'd calm down and just let us work with him it would be even better." Farren chuckled at the complaint.  
  
"I suppose that was the reason for the chain that engulfs his wrist."  
  
"Like I said my friend, he's smarter than we thought. Come on, it's time for dinner." They left the room, unaware of the eyes that followed their departure. Tony floated gracefully to the glass wall, pressing against it with the one hand that could reach, unrestricted by the chain. Then he slammed the fist as hard as the water would allow, bruising his knuckles and not even making a smudge mark on the glass. He swam back to his spot on the floor behind the rock and waited for whatever they wanted him for next, rubbing a hand along where the material gently tickled his leg. He sighed a breath of water and drifted asleep. 


	2. chapter 2

Dr. Wendy Smith scratched at her leg, warding off the slight tickle that had interrupted her thought process. The cell cultures she was working on were not thriving as well as she'd hoped and she hadn't quite figured out why yet. It was one of those small puzzles that she tended to work on between her regular med-duties and consoling. In all honesty she enjoyed figuring out the little things sometimes, it gave her a non-pressured sense of accomplishment, not something that was critical to save somebody's life, just a simple problem being answered.  
  
She sighed and put the culture back in the fridge, scratching her leg again. It seemed like she had phantom leaves brushing at her leg, an itch that had been bothering her for the last month and a half. She went into her office and sat down, waiting for Dagwood to come and see her. He'd asked to speak with her earlier this morning, and she was pretty sure she knew what it was about, or more to the point who.  
  
"Mmm hello?" The Dagger's deep voice enquired through the slightly open door, his head and body following afterwards.  
  
"Hello Dagwood. Have a seat, would you like anything to drink?"  
  
"No thank you. I had a glass of water before I came." She nodded and waited for him to continue. The nice thing about Dagwood was that you usually didn't have to pursuade him to talk about what was bothering him, unlike others on this ship. "I had a dream last night."  
  
"Was it about Tony?" He nodded quickly and sat forward, his larger body almost looking too big for the chair. "Do you want to describe it?"  
  
"He was here, on SeaQuest. We were talking in Darwin's room, he was going to go for a swim but he wanted to wait for Darwin."  
  
"What were you talking about?"  
  
"about pizza mostly. He doesn't like it very much but he always talks about how everyone should love it. He doesn't like the cheese, says it's too greasy. Also we talked about how he liked SeaQuest." Dagwood looked at her as if she held all the answers for a moment before focusing his eyes on the desks surface once again. "He said he didn't want to leave, that we were nice people to him and he liked that, mmmbut sometimes having friends meant that you had responsibilities whether you liked it or not. He said he was going to leave, but he was sad. I think he was scared."  
  
"what do you think he was scared of?"  
  
"I don't know he didn't tell me. He doesn't tell anybody about what he's scared of, except snakes. Tony hates snakes." She smiled slightly, remembering a time when a small gardener snake they'd been transferring to a small harvesting colony had escaped it's casing and he'd walked in to see it slithering across the floor. He was in the aqua tunnels fully clothed before she could even blink. He had a natural attraction to water when it came to fear it seemed. She missed him.  
  
"Why does this dream bother you Dagwood? Do you think he didn't want to leave the Seaquest like he said he did?"  
  
"I think he wanted to stay."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Mmmbecause the conversation we had in my dream was not just a dream." She blinked.  
  
"What do you mean?" He looked confused for a moment, answering slowly.  
  
"He told me that before he left, but I didn't remember until the dream. He made me forget."  
  
(()Q())  
  
"Wendy, I'm sorry but there is no solid evidence that Tony left for any other reason than the fact that he wanted to."  
  
"I know, I was just bringing what I knew to your attention so we could sort through it. I know you think his departure was a little sudden and unexpected, you told me so. Now with Dagwood saying Tony somehow had him forget a conversation they had is a little suspicious." Bridger frowned and gently rubbed his temple a moment. It was not a huge secret that Tony had the slight abilities of a telepath, like Wendy possessed, but the idea that he had enough control over them to manipulate somebody's thoughts was stretching it. Wendy herself stated that he wasn't all that powerful. Dagwood probably just forgot and the dream reminded him.  
  
"What do you think Tony left for then? His parole with the UEO was over, he stayed another two weeks and then decided that SeaQuest wasn't really for him and left to find his own life. That's not an unordinary act, especially for someone as unsettled as Tony Piccolo was." Although in all honesty Bridger had not expected the cocky young man to suddenly pack it in and leave. He'd seemed very enthusiastic about a career in the UEO, at least on the SeaQuest.  
  
"I know that Nathan, but I don't feel that that's the truth anymore, there's something else going on here." He watched as the rubbed her ankle and sighed. It had been two and a half months since Tony left. He hadn't sent a vid in a month to let them know how he was. Lucas had grumbled something about him being beyond the SeaQuest and not bothering to send them messages anymore. He supposedly hadn't replied to the last three the young man had sent. Lucas tended to have his feelings hurt to easily by things like that, but now Bridger began to wonder why Tony hadn't sent any news. He was well aware of how attached the man had become to the kid, as well as his other friends on the ship. He frowned again and Wendy leaned forward.  
  
"Sir, it never hurts to check." He finally relented, hoping their worry was in vain.  
  
"Fine. I want you to have Lucas and O'Niel track him down and get a status report. If anyone asks just say we lost his address. If anyone else on the ship, namely Tony's closer friends, insist on helping than I don't see why not. As long as it doesn't impede on their work." Wendy grinned and stood swiftly.  
  
"Thank you Nathan." He nodded.  
  
"I just hope your feelings are wrong." She nodded and left. She had work to do.  
  
(()Q())  
  
2 Days Later:  
  
"Nothing. Where the hell is he!" Lucas slapped his hand across his keyboard and glared at the computers screen.  
  
"Easy their Lucas, don't break the machine before we're done." Ortize said lightly and pushed the kid out of the seat, tossing a grin at a startled Lucas. "Sorry, but there's no other way to get you to move. It's my turn to look."  
  
"You could have asked." He replied, a little miffed.  
  
"Right, and you would have encrypted the computer so only you could do the research. I know how you work, you're too stubborn to let others have a go." Ortize gazed at the information on the screen, or lack there of it.  
  
"I am not stubborn."  
  
"Complete understatement." O'Niel called out behind them, coming up to look over their shoulders. "No luck yet huh?"  
  
"No, and frankly that bothers me." They were all silent a moment and then O'Niel spoke up.  
  
"Would you mind if we reviewed his message vids?"  
  
"Go ahead, but I already listened to them and there was nothing that indicated anything wrong." Ortize called up the very first vid, sent two days after he left SeaQuest.  
  
"Hey guys and girls. How're things under the sea? Miss me yet? I bet you're all comatose from the lack of excitement I bring. Anyway, just wanted to drop a line. I'm settled in, the UEO offered some back pay so I'm out and about relaxing for a while. Sucks that I gotta go looking for another job, maybe I'll be a DJ or something. Gotta go now, later. Tony Piccolo signing out."  
  
They went through all six of the tapes, each about a week apart, and each getting shorter if that were possible. Each one was Tony allright, and previous tests Lucas had done proved their authenticy so they weren't fake. There must be something in the messages about his location. O'Niel frowned.  
  
"Ortize, do you want to bring up a picture of him from each message please."  
  
"Sure." A moment later there were six different pictures of their seemingly missing friend pasted across the screen. O'Niel nodded.  
  
"What now?" Lucas asked.  
  
"It might seem a little bit far fetched but could you determine the skin pigment on each picture?" Lucas and Ortize both seemed puzzled but were willing to try whatever Tim thought would work. They'd both gotten nowhere so far. Ortize tapped a button and leaned back, the screen filling up with new information. O'Niel let out a breath.  
  
"Same pigment in every picture." He pointed out.  
  
"So?" He looked over at Lucas.  
  
"So he's been on the surface for six weeks. Don't you think he would have aquired at least a slight tan? His brief messages about hanging out on the beach, experimenting with surfing, that should have at least changed his colour within the first week."  
  
"You think all these messages were made at the same time?" Ortize frowned, worry beginning to cloud his features.  
  
"It makes sense doesn't it? But why would he do that and then send them all out within a week span difference, especially considering he hasn't actually done any of the things he's said so far." They sat and thought, silence blanketing the room. After a few minutes Lucas began to twitch with nervous energy.  
  
"Something's wrong. We've got to find him!"  
  
"We could still be jumping to conclusions here." Ortize warned standing up and pacing the small space that was Lucas's quarters. "I mean this is Tony we're talking about." They all paused a moment and looked at each other, then O'Niel tapped the communications button.  
  
"O'Niel to Captain Bridger."  
  
"Bridger here."  
  
"Sir, we need to speak to you right away." There was a short pause on the other line.  
  
"Be in the briefing room in five."  
  
(()Q())  
  
The man paced around his seat slowly, watching him and contemplating something that was probably beyond reason. It was unnerving, to be the centre of a mans attention, especially one who was so obsessive about him. In his own eyes this man, this Miner, was a few fish short of a school, and he was well aware that everyday spent here he was treading a thin line. There were two major problems with this: One being the fact that he couldn't leave and two being the fact that he himself had an attitude problem he couldn't get rid of. Two very big problems in a place like this.  
  
"You know" Miner spoke calmly, "Your little display in the tank earlier was quite uncalled for. I can't have you giving such vulgar gestures to my guests."  
  
"Vulgar? That was the tamest 'gesture' I have." The backhand was unexpected and it took him a moment to fix his glare back on his captor. He couldn't wipe the warm blood trickling down his lip away, seeing that his hands were tied, literally, to the chair. "I might have to work harder." He slurred slightly and was satisfied to see the vultures back stiffen. Time, it seemed, hadn't slowed his ability to tick people off.  
  
"I'm getting tired of this attitude Mr. Piccolo, so I am going to give you some time to think about how you're going to behave in the future and then, one way or another I will have your obedience."  
  
"I'm sorry, do I have German Pointer tattooed on my ass? Last I checked I wasn't a dog." Miner grinned slightly, finally pausing in front of him.  
  
"Far from a dog, but a pet none the less."  
  
"You mean a prisoner."  
  
"I'm very sorry you see it that way, we could have gotten along well. Are all your kind this stubborn?"  
  
"Well considering I'm human I suppose about half are." His eyes clouded slightly.  
  
"I know, Tony Piccolo, that you are not quite as human as you'd have people believe. I know what you are." Tony rolled his eyes.  
  
"Enlighten me." He mocked, knowing that the man couldn't resist a lecture, even if it was pointless. Tony used that to his advantage whenever possible.  
  
"Perhaps you should enlighten me instead. After all you obviously know what I want to hear. Explain how you survive with your gills when no one else can. Explain how your skin remains so perfect in and out of water. Explain the focus of your eyes, how your feet mutate into subtle flippers when your in the water for longer than an hour. Tell me how old you really are." Tony blinked.  
  
"That's an awful lot of things to answer. Hmm, let's see.Oh I know, the UEO performed some experiments that changed me into a human fish. It's amazing what a few laser surgeries can do to a guy." This time Miner slapped him across the gills, he gasped at the sudden spiking pain and tried to control his breathing. Had he gone a little to far that time?  
  
"Dr. Simons?" The man called out and the bald man in a lab coat that Tony had despised since he met him came strolling in casually, a clipboard in his hand. The man always carried a clipboard, it was probably surgically attached.  
  
"Yes sir?" Miner glared at Tony a moment.  
  
"I think our pet needs a little more training. Put him in the test tank, make sure the water is very warm."  
  
"Yes sir." Miner nodded and left, two of the Doctor's assistants entered the room in his place and headed for Tony. Tony struggled slightly but gave up a moment later, being led securely between the two interns thick bodies. It wasn't until he saw the tank that the panic began to set in. He began to squirm, trying desperately to stop their forward march.  
  
"Quit it Tony, it ain't going to help you. If you just co-operated this wouldn't happen." The clipboard man pointed out and Tony struggled harder, his actions becoming more desperate. Another intern suddenly appeared, grabbing his legs and lifting them easily off the ground. Now being carried by the three men closer to the tank he began to thrash wildly, another man came to help.  
  
Despite his struggle Tony didn't bother to say anything, it never helped, never. These people were like robots, they had no compassion at all, and god did he not want to go into that tank. Not again, but he would not be a pet, and his pride always won out over his pain. But it hurt, it hurt so much. They tossed him in the water, it felt like it was at fifty degrees, though it was probably only twenty-five. He pushed off the bottom and torpedoed to the surface, smashing into the solid plexiglass lid trapping him in. He held his breath desperately, bashing his fists against the roof, the sides, anything.  
  
He couldn't hold it any longer, instincts finally kicking in and he was forced to inhale the warm water, feeling the external burn along his gills from the water already. Now breathing it in he felt the fire begin to burn and then the agony erupted, he struggled not to pass out, he couldn't escape the pain, he cried but the water didn't give the tears a chance. He sank to the bottom and curled up in a pitiful ball. He would get through this. Oh god he hoped he'd get through this. 


	3. S3

Notes: Thanks for the compliments so far! And I changed Ortiz's name for you Shell, thanks for pointing that out!  
  
((Q))  
  
The command crew of the SeaQuest were now deeply concerned for their missing friend. The evidence was stacking up to prove his departure was not done with his sole decision. They just had no idea who was involved, why, or what was really going on. A very frustrating scenario. It was two days after the discovery that the messages were all created at the same time, it was a revelation that Tony was actually a good actor, and it was a puzzle as to why he would fake the messages in the first place.  
  
"Here!" Lucas flew into the room with energy, interrupting the command crews thinking. "I've got the location of where he recorded and sent all the messages, which was a small communications studio in Montego Bay, Jamaica. That's about a days fast travel from here. We could take a shuttle and investigate and be back within three days. Call it a shore leave or something." Bridger blinked at him, as did the rest of the group. The messages must have been made two and a half months before. The chances that anyone would remember anything where slim, though it didn't hurt to try.  
  
"Okay. Ford, take O'Neil, Ortiz.and Lucas. Report back ASAP."  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
(()Q())  
  
"Hallo, welcome to Montego's communication station. I am Elana, how can I help you today?" The woman's friendly voice accented lightly made their entrance to the brightly lit station very welcome indeed. O'Neil almost felt bad that they weren't going to be customer's.  
  
"Hello Elana. I'm Tim O'Neil and this is Ortiz and Lucas. We were wondering if you could spare a moment and answer some questions for us?" She smiled knowingly and nodded.  
  
"But of course, this way please. We'll want to get out of the way for everyone else here." She led them into a room off to the side and closed the door to face them.  
  
"How can I help you UEO boys today?"  
  
"We're looking for a friend, he was here about two and a half months ago-"  
  
"I see." She cut O'Niel off and frowned to herself, her dark eyes focusing on his UEO insignia. It made him slightly uncomfortable. "Your friend, he wasn't very tall was he?"  
  
"Not really, he-"  
  
"Okay." She cut him off again, Lucas looked at Ortiz with raised eyebrows.  
  
"He was blonde.no I think he was a dirty blonde almost brown hair?" They nodded in unison but refrained from saying anything. She snapped her fingers three times in unison and then looked up, smiling slightly.  
  
"Ah, his name was Anthony?"  
  
"No, just Tony. Tony Piccolo." Tim supplied hopefully.  
  
"Ah yes, Mr. Piccolo. Funny man though if you ask me he felt a bit weird.then again most people who are not fully human do that to me." She grinned, her large brown lips splitting softly to show white teeth.  
  
"Not human? How do you feel that? Are you some sort of telepathic?" Lucas asked with interest.  
  
"Simply a highly empathic individual you could say. I sense that you are all very worried about him. I'll tell you he was with three men, they didn't have the nicest aura around them, but Tony.I couldn't read him. He must have some form of telepathic abilities to block his emotions like that." She felt their surprise and blinked. "You didn't know of his abilities? Well, don't let him know I hinted about it, obviously he was hiding it for a reason. Now back to those men. They paid for the communication process, I'll get you the records in a minuet. What else can I tell you.one of them had a rather large tattoo on his shoulder, a spider web about a hands size. He was a bulky man, the other two were slightly smaller but also well built. That is all I can recall for you gentlemen." They stared at her a moment in surprise, she had the memory of an elephant. "Anything else?"  
  
"Actually I was wondering if you noticed any insignia on their clothing, anything to indicate the company or program they worked for?"  
  
"Civilian clothing, although your friend was wearing a blinding lime green shirt. I liked his style." She smiled briefly then frowned. "I hope you find him, I think he could use the friends."  
  
"We'll find him, you can be sure about that. Thank you for your help."  
  
"Not a problem. You are all welcome here at any time." They nodded and herded themselves out into the sweltering heat after receiving a downloaded version of the message records. Tim wiped the back of his hand across his forehead and squinted across the road, a frown marring his features.  
  
"Three men, all well built and one had a spider web tattoo across his shoulder. How the hell are we supposed to find them?"  
  
"A tattoo parlour Tim. Always start at the most obvious." Ford's strong voice cut into the groups dismal moping and he clapped Ortiz on the back as he joined the huddled men. "Is that all you got for a description?" He asked, indicating the conversation he'd overheard as he joined the group.  
  
"Afraid so Commander, as well as these records but I'm not sure what we can find on them that could be useful." Ford nodded, thinking.  
  
"Okay, Lucas I want you to start digging into the method of payment, see if you can figure out a paper trail. You can use this communication post as an uplink to the SeaQuest if you need any extra information." Lucas nodded. "Ortiz, you're going to take Tim here to get his first spider web tattoo. See if you can somehow get records for that type of style. Maybe we can find our muscle man that way. I'm going to hit the local pubs and see whether or not our suspects are regulars. We'll meet back at the shuttle no later than twenty-three hundred hours. Okay?"  
  
"Aye sir." O'Neil replied, the other two nodded and then Ortiz threw his arm over Tim's taller shoulder.  
  
"Come on language man, let's make you a bad boy." Tim simply shook his head in foreboding.  
  
(()Q())  
  
Lying there hurt. It hurt so much that he wasn't sure how to react. He was never sure of exactly how he should react, story of his life, but now he was hurting and it wasn't all physical. The metal table as cold as ice on his naked body was beginning to freeze his insides. He hoped it would freeze his heart so it could stop, and he could stop being here in soul. The problem was that as much as he hated this, the idea of leaving his body here to be mutilated by who knows what and for how long was just as repulsive as being around. So he lay here, face down, arms spread to the side and strapped in place, his naked body on view for the scientist and who knew how many assistants to gaze at and poke at and violate in any way they chose.  
  
It was the same as the last time, with the UEO, though they hadn't felt the need to dunk him in a warm water tank more than once. God that hurt and if he ever had the chance he'd return the favour, only he'd make the water scalding, warm water never bothered regular people. So all in all it was the same as last time, same tests, imprisonment, humiliation, probing and relentlessly curious scientists, small tanks he'd be locked in for days on end. It never ended. And it was the same as last time, so why did he feel so much worse?  
  
He'd had a long time to analyze the emotions he'd been feeling and why they soared to such increased levels. A long time of waiting between tests, of nights when he couldn't sleep and they didn't notice. It was difficult to fool them into thinking you were asleep, with all the monitors attached to him, when they knew he was awake they'd sedate him. It was no good if their lab rat wasn't getting its required dose of REM cycle. He was so sick of drugs and becoming so used to them he occasionally questioned his judgements on his surroundings. Thankfully they'd performed the last drug test the day before, now they were branching into the more molecular part of the study, as if they hadn't been working on it from the beginning. He wanted to spit at them, but his head was pretty much plastered to the metal slab. They didn't like it when he struggled.  
  
So this trip around the lab was worse then the last one for several obvious reasons, but he knew what to expect. After all he'd done it before. Even the first time, the moment he'd been caught he'd known what to expect. He understood people, the way they ticked, their curiosity that made them question and examine everything to death. It would be the death of him if they weren't careful. Knowing his fate had helped him over come it, kept him motivated to live, to get back to the ocean, to freedom.  
  
And in all of his self-reflection he'd finally realized why this hurt so much more than it should. It was difficult to understand at first. He'd had his ocean to motivate him, his animals to talk to, what more motivation could he possibly need. Then he'd remembered that while he had all of that he didn't have what he wanted the most, and that was a friend. As cheesy as it sounded Tony Piccolo (adopted name created in self good taste) wanted somebody that wasn't a fish or whale to talk to. He wanted a human friend, his closest relative in species. And why not? It was lonely patrolling the oceans, and he'd never, ever come across another of his kind. Not at all in the last one hundred and fifty years.  
  
Now, now he had those friends, those human friends. And he missed them, and that was why this was worse than last time, because before when he escaped he had his craved freedom, and no one to share it with. Now he had people to share it with, and they didn't even know that he cared. Wasn't he something? The ringleader of a school of clown fish.  
  
He felt his arms and neck finally release from their bonds, and he pulled his arms under his chest, slowly pushing his body up and swinging his legs over the side. Now with his butt experiencing frostbite he practically growled at an assistant as he carefully handed him a set of those stringy clingy shorts. He stood and slipped them on, not feeling any less naked with the minor coverage it provided.  
  
"Get the swabs to the lab and begin analysis."  
  
"I thought this was the lab." Tony found himself replying offhandedly, a reflex retort from years of practice. He watched as the assistant left with the bag full of individually wrapped q-tip things. They'd gone all out this time, taking skin cell swabs from every part of his body as opposed to one section. He frowned as he watched the man leave. He'd just been in the water for the longest period of time since his arrival, no doubt they were increasing the submersion time to see the different affects. He just hoped they hadn't yet reached the cellular point where his lower body began to rapidly develop skin cells and his fin formed. How much fun would he not have if that happened?  
  
"Very good Tony, I see your time in the water hasn't dulled your perception." The doctor sniped, signing some form on a clipboard.  
  
"Only my complexion I'm afraid. Any trip to some real ultra violet rays in the making? Oh wait, I forgot that this wasn't a vacation. How silly of me, as a prisoner I get confused with the hospitality of this place." The bald doctor gave a snitty grin and simply nodded in response to the guard that was Tony's escort, who subsequently pulled his arms behind his back and placed restraints on him. Tony didn't bother wasting any energy on fighting, he knew he couldn't get out of the complex in this situation.  
  
However today, as he was led out of the sterile lab and away from the table of death, he immediately realized that there was only one guard instead of two. Interesting.  
  
"Hey Tweedle Dee? Where's Tweedle Dumb today?" The man who was dressed entirely in a dark blue and snug jumpsuit complete with a badge on the shoulder glanced at him and kept walking. Tony's bare feet slapped on the ground as he walked beside his guard, he made an effort to be loud. He started humming an extremely off tune version of "You Ain't nothing But a Hound Dog," One of the King's best. Now, considering the irresponsibly long distance it was from the particular lab they just left to the tank section, he managed to get on the man's nerves in under thirty seconds. A new record.  
  
"Quiet."  
  
"Or what? You'll turn me over to science?" He saw the mans jaw set in annoyance but he didn't reply. So they kept walking along the winding corridor and he kept humming off tune. They rounded a corner and he caught the tail end of a man disappearing behind one of the anonymous doors, and it looked like he'd been pushing a wheelbarrow. Tony wrinkled his sensitive nose to the faint but still disgusting odour. Feces. He noticed the guard had stiffened and glared worriedly at the door a moment before resetting his calm and collected façade, not slowing his pace in the slightest.  
  
Tony grinned to himself and continued humming as though he hadn't noticed the man and what he presumed a slip-up. He had never, not once, seen anybody in the halls during these transfer walks, nor had he ever been given any hint of what was behind the doors. Probably because they were afraid he'd learn some information that could lead to his escape. He hummed and shot a glance at the guard, seeing him relaxed. Another point to note, Tweedle Dee was relaxed around him. Good.  
  
They finally reached another door, the guard placed his thumb in the sensor spot and it slipped silently open, revealing a small passageway along the side of a glass tank. Tony glanced into it and frowned. A rock in the centre, some short seaweed patches flowing around it. The dirt covered grown was covered in little glittering rocks illuminated by purposely placed light beams that were probably meant to mimic the sun. He also noticed a current. His frown deepened as they reached its back where stairs led to a platform at the top. There were, of course, three other guards waiting to assist him into the tank. How thoughtful.  
  
"Mr. Minor has some company today. He felt you would provide some decent entertainment." The guard gloated seeing his discomfort. Tony glared at him but refrained from comment.and then he had an idea. Or at least the beginning of one. When the guards began moving towards him, expecting his usual struggle he sighed resignedly and hoped to paste a look of defeat on his face before he simply turned and began trudging up the stairs, by his own accord. For a moment he could sense their shock, and then two of them scrambled up after him. Reaching the top they cautiously removed his restraints, warily waiting for some kind of attack. Instead Tony simply turned and dove elegantly into the tank, heading straight to the bottom where he slouched against the rock and stared morbidly at his feet.  
  
A moment later he felt the slight vibration of the thick glass lid moving into place above him, sealing him in until it was once again removed. He saw the blurry shapes of the guards standing on the other side of the glass, watching him a moment before disappearing. Tony restrained his satisfied grin, knowing that that was the first step in letting them think he'd finally accepted being their prisoner. Now he had time to plot, and a plan of escape began to form. 


	4. s4

They sat around the circular table, the thick blanket of silence only accenting their frustration and worry. It was dim in the cafeteria, although that was not unusual seeing as it was 0100 hours and everyone but the skeletal night shift had gone to bunk for the night. A depressing atmosphere that supported dampened spirits, and the weary sighs came more frequently from the people silently sitting there. Lucas suddenly threw his pen on the pile of papers scattered before him and glared. Miguel nervously shifted, but it wasn't from the glare the teenager was giving the table, it was for the reason behind the glare.  
  
Tony, their friend and crewman, was missing, and they were running out of options to find him. They had nothing to go on except the messages he'd sent and the description of a mans tattoo. They'd gone to the local tattoo artist and asked several questions about specific spider web tattoos, Tim had nearly come away with a thumb size black widow on his neck but other than that the enquiry was useless. The artist didn't recognize the marking or the descriptions of the man that wore it. The fact was they had nothing to go on. Wherever Tony was, or who ever had him, had covered their tracks well. Too well, and their lack of progress in finding anything was scaring Miguel more than he cared to admit.  
  
The fact was he considered Tony a friend, a good one. He hadn't had much time to really get to know the ex-con but even in almost a year of working together he felt they'd formed a good bond. There was something different about Tony that Miguel had been drawn to trust, especially after all they'd been through together and with the rest of the crew. Yet despite that there was still something about the man that had always bugged him, the problem was that he couldn't quite pin point what it was, and that was the most annoying part. He'd spent a lot of time thinking about it recently, about what was so different about Tony. Was it the way he carried himself? The way he reacted to certain people? Authority? His taste in music? As far as Miguel was concerned everyone had some quirk or odd way about them. Everyone had something they kept a secret from others, it didn't matter how big or small. So what was it that made Tony different from a place full of individual people?  
  
Miguel took a deep breath and looked once more around the table at the shuttered faces of tired friends worried to death about Tony. He knew that Captain Bridger, as much as he hated the idea, had been given orders to head to the coast of Newfoundland and aid in the clean up of a fuel spill. The spill itself was minor but deadly to the creatures it covered and their aid was appreciated. They had to leave and put a halt to the search for Tony. It was a desperate time and this early morning gathering was the last moment attempt to come up with a plan to find him. Miguel met Henderson's tired eyes and gave a weak smile of support. Even he couldn't muster enough optimism to give encouragement, if only he could.A loud bang echoed in the deadly silent room and every occupant, with the exception of Ford, practically fell out of their seat in shock at the noise.  
  
The unmistakable form of Dagwood raced across the mess, avoiding chairs and tables with surprising grace until he stopped where they all sat, looming over them and making Miguel remember how small he was in comparison to the Dagger.  
  
"Darwin has news! He says he has a friend who knows where Tony is!" They stared at him a moment and Miguel found it difficult for his mind to wrap around what the man was saying.Darwin has news about Tony?  
  
"Where is he?" Ford demanded, shooting out of his seat at the same time Lucas jumped up.  
  
"Ummm, I think you should talk to Darwin. He's in the moonpool. He's waiting for you." The poor Dagger didn't even have time to finish as the entire group surged forward and out of the messhall in one fluid stream. When they arrived at the moon pool they stopped in confusion.  
  
"When did we get another dolphin?" Brody asked off to Miguel's left. It was Darwin who answered.  
  
"Tony not good, Tony not safe! Prince needs help!" He clicked and Lucas grabbed for the communicator.  
  
"Darwin, tells us what's going on, what do you know about Tony?" The two dolphins splashed their heads in agitation and Miguel watched the guest dolphin clicked and whistled animatedly. Darwin waited a moment before speaking.  
  
"He says Prince in large tank. men lock him there. They were together once and Tony not happy. Tony scared. Tony don't like scientists." The room was silent again, but only for a worried moment.  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"Big place! Big! Other animals, fish and mammals there! All locked up, but not like Prince! They hurt him!"  
  
"Darwin" Lucas spoke evenly and urgently "Can your friend show us where Tony is?" The dolphin shook his head negatively in a very human gesture.  
  
"No. He show you where he was put back in real ocean! Must save Prince! Prince get sick in cage!"  
  
"We'll find him Darwin. Ask your friend to stay a while so we can go do some research." The dolphin splashed his blue-gray nose in agreement but they were already turning away to look at each other.  
  
"A research lab?" Tim suggested as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose.  
  
"Possibly. It sounded like they did aqua research on a lot of animals. Is there anywhere around here that could support that?" Ford asked. Miguel frowned.  
  
"An aquarium?" Lucas suggested. "There are quite a few of them placed in the main tourist areas."  
  
"It's a possibility, and the best one we've had in a while. Lucas."  
  
"Dustin Miner." Miguel spoke up, finally finding his voice and interrupting Ford. They paused and looked at him.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Dustin Miner, previously owner of the Miner Maker Industries that supplied the UEO with alloy for ships." He licked his lips, thinking of how to give a brief history. "He sold it for one hell of a lot of money and went into aquariums and mini-sub building. He's one of the richest men in the world. You guys haven't heard of him?"  
  
"Sounds familiar, keep going." Ford ordered.  
  
"He's been in trouble with the endangered species act several times, though he appears to fully support their cause. He tends to acquire animals on the black market for his private collections. He's an avid fish lover, basically obsessed with anything under the sea." Lucas snapped his fingers and pointed at Miguel.  
  
"I know who you're talking about! I think I read an article about him two years back when the UEO tried to convict him of possessing three animals stolen from the protection zone.and a giant whale carcass? But that fell through and I haven't read anything on him since."  
  
"For such a rich man he seems extremely capable of staying away from the spotlight." Miguel commented. "If he has Tony than the sooner we get him out the better. My sister met Miner once at a whale activist protest, it was brief but she said he gave her the creeps. Supposedly had an aura of insanity around him." He noticed the raised eyebrows and quickly jumped to his siblings defence. "She's slightly empathic and very good at reading people."  
  
"So are you." Wendy smith commented as she joined the tightly huddled group.  
  
"Dr. Smith. Glad you could join us." Ford said.  
  
"I was in the lab anyway." She answered, looking at each individual and then her eyes rested on Miguel. He felt himself flush slightly under her gaze and remembered her last comment. He should have known she'd pick up on his extremely slight empathic abilities, he had a tendency to advertise them when he was extremely stressed, he just hoped she wouldn't mention it again.  
  
"You all seem anxious," she commented "what's going on?"  
  
"We think we've found Tony." Her eyes shot around to stare at Commander Ford and she a sharp little breath. Miguel felt her intense relief and worry increase ten fold. It was amazing the waves a psychic could give off. Tony did that occasionally when he was excited about something but.but Tony wasn't psychic, was he?  
  
"Lucas, dig into the records and current status of that facility Ortiz mentioned. Tim, Brody and Henderson, I want you to start planning a possible rescue from Lucas's information as well as look into legalities. I'd rather get Tony out of there legally as opposed to breaking in." Miguel noticed the slightly dangerous glint that reached every members eyes in the room and felt sorry for whoever got in their way now. As a team they were all expertly trained and possibly some of the best in the world at what they did. When they were pissed off and out for revenge.it was downright scary. For a moment he was washed up in the feeling of action and purpose. They were going to get their friend back!  
  
"Ortiz, you and Dr. Smith meet me in the briefing room in ten minutes. We need to inform the captain of the situation and help him come up with a way to have our current mission changed. Lets get to it people." They all snapped into a frenzy of controlled movement, speeding to their destinations. When the room emptied Miguel found himself standing next to the doctor and Dagwood. She bent down briefly and scratched at her lower leg, frowning. He cleared his throat.  
  
"Doctor Smith. Could I ask you something?"  
  
"Of course." She smiled kindly.  
  
"My empathic abilities, they're so weak I usually don't pick up any emotions from people who don't possess the abilities themselves."  
  
"That's completely normal, and I apologize for bringing it up in front of the others, I didn't realize that you didn't want them to know."  
  
"That's no problem. I just.I pick up emotions from you when you don't have your shields in place, but the only other person I've ever felt like that has been Tony." He stopped there and looked at her, wondering if he should blurt out the question or if it was his right to even ask. She saved him from his own dilemma.  
  
"You're wondering if our Tony Piccolo has telepathic abilities?" She sighed and they walked over to the moon pool where the two dolphins were casually rolling around. She didn't act surprised at the additional mammal. "I honestly am not sure. I used to get strange readings from him at odd moments but never enough to indicate any ability. Dagwood doesn't agree though." Miguel looked beside her where the large man had joined them, a frown on his lips. His eyes were so young, like the child that he usually appeared to be. He hadn't lived nearly as long as any of them but he'd seen so much for his age. Sometimes, Miguel mused, Dagwood was the most mature out of them all. The big custodian met his gaze head on.  
  
"Tony is telepathic. A good one! The best." He stated and Wendy frowned slightly.  
  
"Dagwood, you can't be sure. There was only one incidence."  
  
"No!" He cut her off. "There is so much more about him. Tony, he hid a memory in my own mind, and you can't even feel his mind. He is too strong, he hides it so you don't know."  
  
"Dagwood." Miguel was so confused by the mans outburst, he didn't really know what to say. "How can you be sure?" Dagwood suddenly stood taller, bouncing back and forth on his large feet, his eyes darting between them both in sudden nervousness. He was contemplating whether or not he should say what he knows.  
  
"If what you know could help us find Tony, you should tell us." Wendy calmly urged and he raised a big hand to twist his eyebrow as he thought.  
  
"I don't know if it will help. Tony will be upset." That was it then, they wouldn't get anymore out of the Dagger. Miguel felt his shoulders slump slightly. "MMMMBut you two can know. Somebody else needs to know." He took a breath. "Tony is a prince! He can talk to Darwin."  
  
"Anybody can speak with Darwin Dagwood." But the man shook his head in immediate denial.  
  
"No, not through the phone. Tony speaks to Darwin" He tapped his head with his index finger "in his head. Tony speaks to all animals in their head. Darwin said Tony is the prince of all the water and everything that lives in it." Miguel and Wendy stood there and gazed at him, completely unsure of how to react. Miguel was suddenly worried that Dagwood was more mentally immature than any of them realized when a quite click drew their attention to the water pool.  
  
"True." Darwin squawked resignedly. "True. Tony Prince. Don't tell. Don't tell." Miguel breathed in sharply and Wendy twisted her gaze to star him in the eyes. For a moment, as they tried to comprehend what they were being told, they were lost in each others gazes, until a new and confused fear crept into Miguel's heart.  
  
"We don't tell anyone about this." He said, hoping that they would all listen to his reasoning. "Nobody. If the UEO found out-"  
  
"They know." Darwin answered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"They know. Tony doesn't like the UEO." Miguel noticed Wendy swallow slowly before turning to look at both him and Dagwood.  
  
"You're right Miguel. This information goes no further than us, for Tony's safety and his right for privacy. Understood?" They both nodded and Darwin splashed in agreement. Now, not knowing what to think and needing to see his friend more than ever Miguel followed Wendy out of the room and to the briefing. A subdued silence set over them.  
  
()()()Q()()()  
  
The current was strong in the tank today, he was forced to try and swim into it to keep from crashing into the glass wall on the opposite side. He'd been moving for three hours now and though he wasn't in the least bit tired he began to act as though he were. His number one motto was never give scientists the correct results. It was his only way of currently having any control over anything, and his control was slipping.  
  
Everyday he felt his body beginning to disobey him, begin to turn. He couldn't stand being in water for so long and not allowing his bodies natural change. It was becoming painful, fighting himself. His body was reacting to the prolonged submersions. He hadn't been out of the tank for two and a half days straight. Surprisingly, at least to him, this was the longest they'd had him remain in it. It appeared they were becoming less fascinated with studying his body on a table, and he was losing the battle to stay as human as possible.  
  
His skin was formulating a ticker layer of mucus, almost unnoticeable to the human eye and just silky to the touch, but necessary for permanent underwater life. As a protection he adapted this layer, which doubled as insulation in colder temperatures. And now it was here he could feel the continuous twinges in his legs. The tissue cells were beginning to replicate at a rate that was impossible for any other creature he'd ever found on earth. His fin was beginning to overpower his human legs.  
  
If he wanted to he could control the rate of replication. In a matter of minutes his legs flesh could form a thick layer that attached his two limbs together. It was an odd sensation, and extremely weird to watch as the flesh would suddenly grow and wrap into a fin. The painful part was the base of his fin, which needed to build a cartilage base to support the flipper. Another odd side effect was the skin pigmentation which turned a silver and tinted with whatever colour surrounded him the most at the time of transformation. And, just as he could increase his transformation speed, he could decrease it; to two and a half days. But now his natural urges were beginning to over come his command. If he didn't get out of this tank within approximately eight hours he would be giving everyone one hell of a show as he ripped his pants of so the change could take place. And when that happened, his life would become even more of a living hell.  
  
He concentrated on slowing down his strokes, beings pushed closer to the wall more frequently, hoping they would stop the water slow soon. Fake currents were the most annoying and unnatural thing about his water prisons. Maybe he should just form his fin and give it a good smack upside the glass. Not meaning to brag but he was more than confident he could shatter the thick glass if he had two, especially with the aide of the water pressure. And then, without any warning, the flow stopped and his tank was tossed into an uncertain swirl as the water tried to decide how to stop moving. Looking up he saw a guard at the tank surface, gesturing at him to emerge. With a strong kick he glided up, his arms reaching until he felt his fingers contact the metal grate. Pulling hard he flew out of the water, the guard standing in front of him waiting, and jumping back as a fountain of water flew from Tony's mouth and all over his private area. Tony plunged back into the water, his head bobbing above its surface as he laughed at the enraged guards red face.  
  
"Get out of there!" He demanded, his stun rifle used as a threatening pointer. Tony immediately sobered, remembering his last weeks submissive act.  
  
"Sorry sir. I don't know what came over me." He pulled himself up and his feet easily landed on the deck, the grate, much like SeaQuest's corridors, bit into his feet. He ignored it.  
  
"Just walk." The man huffed and Tony thumped down the staircase onto the main floor, where Miner was waiting. Oh heavenly joy, the felt the skin at the back of his neck tighten in warning. The man was looking at him strangely, with a knowing glaze to his eyes.  
  
"Tony, it seems you've been hiding something from us." Oh no, what could he have discovered. Tony blinked, waiting. Miner frowned slightly but dind't comment. If Tony was aware of any of this mans feelings he'd have to say that Miner missed his retaliation. Normal fish didn't talk back, it was probably very exciting to him. And the imprisoned man had to his a smirk of disgust. "The rate of tissue cell replication seems to be increasing along your legs and feet. Are you going to tell us anything about it?" The mans eyes were like an interrogation all on their own, and Tony wanted to shudder in fear. He could admit he was afraid of this man. There was nothing wrong in admitting that to himself. It was natural for someone who held so much power over you to be feared, yet while Tony was deadly afraid of him he wouldn't allow himself to become overpowered by the instinctual need for Fight or Flight. Obvously in this situation it wasn't an option, so instead he held his own and feared in silence. After all, he didn't want the evil creature to have the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.  
  
"Sir." A scientist speaking off to their right interrupted. "We're ready for him." Miner nodded and stepped close to Tony, leaning forward and his warm breath was easily felt by Tony's sensitive skin  
  
"After this you're going in the tank for an indefinite amount of time." His voice hissed quietly. Tony felt the nervousness radiating off the still guard to his left. "So long, that I'm sure you'll miss the basic need of human contact." His large hand suddenly landed firmly on Tony's chest and he jumped in surprise and fear. The mans hand moved in slow circles, feeling his chest, traveled down to rub at his gill filaments before coming to rest on his left collar bone. Tony took in a shaky breath and swallowed the bile that threatened to erupt form his throat. The way this man touched him made him so sick he couldn't describe it, and the fingers pressed into his slippery skin. He could feel the nails beginning to bite him, and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and snap this mans neck.  
  
But his instincts wouldn't let him, he was not a killer, he never would be, no matter what. The intimate atmosphere Miner had created came to a crashing end as his nails dug in and suddenly ripped down, taking several layers of skin with them. Tony flinched slightly and looked down at the three red lines beginning to bead with tiny drops of blood, and then back into Miners smirking face. Cautiously Tony reached out and glimpsed into the mad mans mind, and retreated so fast that Miner looked shook his head in confusion. Tony had to get out of here, this was his last chance if he wanted to escape relatively unharmed. This man was insane. Miner nodded to the guard and stepped aside as Tony was finally led away from them, by the one guard.  
  
They paused at the door as the precautionary cuffs where thrown around his wrists and then, with a rifle nudge, they were walking along the corridor. A minute later they were approaching the door Tony had seen the wheelbarrow enter the other day. He took a deep and steadying breath, drawing on his full concentration he looked at the guard and commanded.  
  
"Stop." Instantly the man froze and turned to look at him, and Tony feared that he hadn't been able to control his mind like he thought he could. But when Dewy didn't say anything he held out his wrists. "Unlock these." The man hesitated and Tony concentrated harder, feeling a headache form. He could talk to any creature, see into anyone's mind, but when it came to manipulating them it was the most difficult thing in the world. It wasn't natural to him, it was something he forced his mind to do of necessity and he would pay for it later, with the hangover of all time. The guard reached out and placed his thumbprint on the locking mechanism. The metal rings clicked and slipped off. Tony caught them with one hand and looked at the guard.  
  
"Thanks." He said and then smashed his fist into the guys jaw. He was out like a light before he hit the floor. Releasing his psychic hold on the man Tony sighed in relief, the pressure leaving his mind. He Bent down, grabbed the man by the arms and dragged him easily to the door that had caught his attention one week before. He'd been planning this for a while now, and if he was wrong about what this room was than he was in serious trouble. Picking up the stun weapon he pulled the guards arm up until his thumb could reach the door lock scan, after a moment the metal shield slid open and Tony dragged the man into the room quickly.  
  
Sensing one other person in the room he immediately trained his weapon on the man.  
  
"Don't move." He ordered as he snapped the cuffs around the guards wrist and left him on the floor. The stench in the room was strong but Tony managed to ignore it, looking to the far end of the room he saw a pool like hole as wide as a mattress, and he guessed it was much deeper. The brownish water made him want to gag, this was going to be disgusting.  
  
He grabbed the mans arms and dragged him to the pools edge, he could feel the flesh trembling in fear under his firm grasp. He put the gun to the man's temple and glared.  
  
"This is the tank sewage centre?"  
  
"Y-yes sir." The man stammered. And Tony grinned, he'd been right. When the tanks were cleaned of all their animals feces this is there they went.  
  
"And this tank has a pipe system that leads directly into the ocean for dumping?" The man nodded again, his head bobbing vigorously. "So you've been in these pipe to clean them?" Another nod, more uncertain now. "Is there any sort of machinery in there that is used to grind up the shit?" Tony glanced again at the brown liquid, holding back the urge to gag. His prisoners eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  
  
"Why."  
  
"Just answer!" Tony demanded, digging the weapon into the flesh a little more, he saw the fear over come the confusion again.  
  
"No! There's no need, the feces just crumble during the flush." Tony nodded.  
  
"How long is the tunnel?"  
  
"About two hundred meters."  
  
"How does the flushing system work?"  
  
"Sir, I don't think-"  
  
"Look kid, I have not had a very good time as a test subject in this facility. IN fact I'm pretty much ready to kill in order to get out of here. So if you don't answer my questions, and believe me when I tell you I know when you're lying, than will not hesitate to kill you. Understand?" Tony demanded harshly. He was running out of time, they were going to notice his failure to arrive at the lab in any minute. Finally the man began to stumble out an answer.  
  
"The water is pulled in through a separate pipe and pushes the contaminated fluid through the pipe into the ocean. The wall on the right of the tank is where the controls are. It takes about three minutes to fully flush." Tony dragged the man to the control panel.  
  
"How?" The boy touched the screen which changed to different instructions. A list of options came up and he pointed with a shaky finger at the disposal icon.  
  
"You just press there and it goes to work immediately." Tony stared at it a moment and then turned to the twenty-five year old.  
  
"Thanks." And pushing the boy near the guard he shot him with the stunner. His body crumpled in on itself but Tony knew from experience that he would wake up just fine in ten minutes or so. Just to be safe he shot the guard as well before tossing the weapon to the ground. Then a red light began flashing in the room.  
  
"Warning, security breach. Warning, security breach." It was time. Not thinking twice about it Tony tapped the button and immediately noticed the murky fluid in the pool begin to swirl. Before he could change his mind he took a deep breath and jumped in. He was instantly tugged deeper into the thick liquid and found himself sucked into a tube about three times his body width. Keeping his eyes and mouth closed as tight as he could he covered his head with his arms and went with the flow. For two minutes he fought the urge to breath the waste, feeling its thickness slurping around him as it gradually thinned out, mixing with natural seawater. And then finally he was ejected into the slightly cooler, slightly fresher body of the ocean.  
  
Not wasting a minute he kicked powerfully away from the filthy water, until he couldn't feel it or taste it through his skin anymore, and he took is first burning breath of saltwater freedom, and cried as loudly as he could into the ocean. He was free. 


	5. S5: Finality

In the clean water Tony Piccolo frantically scrubbed his body as clean as he could, his fingers brushing through his hair as he almost tried to tear out the hairs. Slowly he felt his skin begin to stop its slight burning from the filth that had completely covered him. That had been the most disgusting thing he'd ever had to do, he shuddered in remembrance.  
  
The adrenalin rush caused by his desperate attempt at freedom was beginning to wear off and he could feel his body weakening. His chest, where that psycho had scratched him, felt like it was throbbing in tune to his heartbeat. He was sure the tiny open wounds were becoming infected because of the itchiness that irritated them. There must have been some form of chemical in the waste pool. His gills were also beginning to feel like they were on fire. He took a deep breath and let the water flow through him slowly, cleansing him of the recycled tanks water and the taste of imprisonment. The ocean was so different from that place. It was less sterile and cleaner at the same time, but he wasn't sure how logical that sounded.  
  
The tickle along his legs drew his attention to the shiny, tight and shredded pants that he hadn't yet pealed off. Frantically he tore at them, their dirtiness, their representation was making him sick, and he let them slowly float in the water in front of his face. Sighing he grabbed them and tied them into a small tight ball, it wouldn't due to pollute his home. Finally he looked around and let his body begin its transformation to its more natural state in this environment. There were lots of large rocks on the floor below him that were beginning to sprout coral. Several fish were approaching him warily and then swimming off in delight, only to edge closer a minute later. He grinned at their antics, and then grimaced a moment in pain, until finally he could swim away from this place at a speed that rivalled the SeaQuest.well, maybe not quite that fast, but easily at the speed of dolphins.  
  
The water became deeper, but he could still easily see its surface. The coral was branching out in magnificent colours, the life was flourishing. He felt the energetic vibe of the creatures, their greetings, their love, and he returned it. And then his body began to shut down on him, weakening. He slowed his torpedoing body to a mere glide through the ocean depths. His head was beginning to throb, a deep pounding that followed the beat of his heart and matched that on his cut chest. His back was beginning to ache in a way he'd only ever felt once before, after his escape from the labs and onto SeaQuest. His muscles began to shake and briefly spasm in different places. It was the sickness that he refused to give into while he'd been locked up in those tanks. The sickness from the experimentation and fear that he couldn't hold off anymore. His body knew he was free and now it was giving in to its pain and he wanted nothing more than to curl up and float to the bottom of this wild place and sleep. But he couldn't.  
  
He looked at an eel slowly emerging from a rock and asked for the closest uninhabited island. The eel had pointed its snout further south and Tony moved on, trying to pick a pace he could manage. This was unfamiliar territory to him, and while he trusted most animals he still knew you could never trust them all, especially sharks.or giant squids. Or giant alligators for that matter.  
  
A shadow passed over him and he twisted to face upwards, ready to defend himself, and he gasped in relief as the giant Manta continued to glide slowly above him. Her wings were spread out gracefully on both sides, rising and falling in a rhythm that steadied his panicked breaths. He wasn't feeling well enough to protect himself. Looking past her he noticed six more of the giant creatures that flew like elegant ships, only so much more beautiful.  
  
*we'll help you.* Their leader above him sang out and he wanted to reach out to her so desperately. *We'll take you to your friends, you will be safe again.* And this time he did reach out as her soft words caressed him, soothing him and slightly easing the pain. With an easy twist he found her back rising up under him and he rolled over and waited as its warm skin caressed his chest, stomach and fin. He held onto the front of her wing, securing the cloth ball between them, and finally relaxed. Letting tears mix with the water surrounding him, not noticing the easy pull of his body against the current or his arms. He remembered her. Two years before he'd cut her free from a fishermen's net and found himself tangled instead. He trusted her, and she sang to him, and they swam on.  
  
()()Q()()  
  
Commander Ford's face was set in grim determination as he led the group of well-armed security officers and Brody to the front door of the giant complex. At least what they perceived to be a giant complex. The front door had a building attached to it, which branched off into what looked like several giant above ground tanks, but considering the reputation that Lucas had dug up about this place Ford guessed that the main attractions were underneath the surface.  
  
Not pausing to look up at the sign boasting that this was a privately owned building belonging to Mr. Miner, Ford marched until he was eye to lens with the doors flat-screened security camera. He didn't wait for a greeting.  
  
"This is the UEO. We have a warrant to search every corner of this facility immediately, any hesitance will be determined as uncooperative and we will arrest every person within this facility." He didn't blink once as he rolled the threatening speech off his tongue with formidable threat. And, as he demanded, the door opened immediately, and they marched inside. Brody sidled up to Ford and spoke quietly while they looked around the large room that's walls had built in aquarium's from floor to ceiling.  
  
"Did you hear that klaxon going off when we arrived?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Any ideas?"  
  
"No, unless it was for us, which I doubt."  
  
"Right." Ford looked around the large and mostly empty room, noticing his men's footsteps echoing with every step. He turned to address the group of 13 men who stood stiffly at attention, ready for action.  
  
"Split into groups of three. Rodriguez, your group takes far left and the other groups take the other doors heading off to the right. Marcel, you're with me." A series of yes sirs were hollered and the men dashed off to their destinations. Noticing the grim look on Brody's face Ford gave him an encouraging nod before heading out to their set of doors. When they reached them and the doors failed to open the large black man simply levelled his weapon and fired a clean shot at the locking mechanism. The door instantly slid open and he repressed the urge to grin in satisfaction. And the search for Tony Piccolo began.  
  
()()  
  
Despite attempts in the past to obtain a full warrant to search this facility by other authorities, Ford had been able to get full authority. Of course, as serious as illegally owning endangered species was, kidnapping of a human being was much more serious. With Miners track record it wasn't difficult to gain full access into every crevice of this building, and they had found enough evidence to put Dustan Miner away for a very long time, regardless of whether Tony was here or not.  
  
Ford stood at the end of a very long corridor. Off to his left was a long deceased blue whale, its giant body floating morbidly in the motionless water. Ford suppressed a shudder as he averted his eyes to the door in front of him. The security on this place was incredible and he didn't want to think about how difficult it would have been to break in here. It might have been impossible, and reaching this door made him want to yell in frustration. A blue orb stuck out from the door, obviously the finally lock which probably required no less that Miner's hand himself. Ford, bathed in the blue light of the tanks around him, heard Brody and Marcel looking around behind them. Not knowing how to get through the door he called out in what he hopped was an authoritative voice.  
  
"Open the door." Nothing happened.  
  
"The game is up. There is no reason to hide anything else from us. So you can open the door now, or you can wait for us to cut through it and come in anyway." He forced himself to not hold his breath, he could feel that this is where Tony would be. It had been so long since he'd seen the shorter man, so long since he'd been locked in this underground hell. God he hoped he was okay. The door slid silently open in front of him and with Brody and Marcel firmly on his heels he walked through.  
  
Walking down a short corridor and through another door they came to a room, where a lone man stood in the centre. Ford and Brody shared a look before slowly approaching him. He was staring at the empty scene on the other side of the glass and Ford wasn't sure Miner even knew they were there. He frowned, but then the man spoke.  
  
"Commander Ford. Welcome, though I see you only came to retrieve something I've worked so hard to obtain." Miner turned and glanced briefly before his eyes shifted back to the clear blue water.  
  
"He was never an object to obtain, you can't own a person." The atmosphere was almost surreal as Miner chuckled slightly. Ford wasn't sure how to react in such a calm face.  
  
"I don't think you realize how inhuman Mr. Piccolo is, Commander. A human can not live amongst the creatures of the sea."  
  
"Its amazing what technology can do." Brody growled and they both startled at the sharp laugh that was returned.  
  
"Technology indeed. It can create all these underwater homes, it can save lives, it can take us to space.but it cannot yet create a being like him. He is above us." He turned his cobalt eyes and stared directly at Ford, searching for something. "He is so much more than you give him the chance to be. Did you know he has the memory of an elephant? Show him something once and he never forgets. It was very difficult to keep him here, his spirit was too strong to stay caged. I tried but in the end he still broke free." Ford frowned and stepped closer to him.  
  
"Where is he?" He demanded, and Miner raised his eyebrows.  
  
"I wish I could tell you, but it appears he felt it was time to leave. I don't suppose he wanted us to discover his true potential. He was so beautiful." Miner's voice was soft and whimsical, yet they also sounded heartbroken. Ford was becoming annoyed with all the talk. It was obvious that Miner should be in a psych ward. He wanted to find his friend, and he wanted him back now.  
  
"Where is he Miner?"  
  
"Oh I assure he's not dead, I don't think. He escaped into the ocean just before you arrived. Impeccable timing really, you UEO soldiers always show up a step behind. I suppose he'll always be a step ahead of you, of us." He laughed and stepped up to a wall, activating a projection of Tony with an eerie layout of his anatomy.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ford asked, raising his weapon in warning.  
  
"Nothing really, I'm just going to delete.ah there we go." Miner turned to face him as the spitting image of a vertically dissected Piccolo disappeared. "If I can't have him anymore, than I am not about to give the UEO the satisfaction of three months of solid research. I have everything up here" he tapped his head "and that will help me sleep at night better than any drug." He held out his wrists. "I'm ready to go now." Ford nodded to Marcel who stepped forward and cuffed the lunatic, leading him back down the passageway.  
  
"That guy is a little strange." Brody said as he went to the computer counsel. He looked at it a moment. "Everything that was here is deleted, permanently. I don't think Lucas could get it back, and I'm pretty sure this computer links up to the entire system. Commander?" Ford had opened a somewhat hidden door of to the right and stood there staring. He wasn't sure what to say. Brody walked up behind him and stopped as well, taking a deep breath. "We left him here for three months." He whispered, and Ford felt bile slowly rising in his throat. He swallowed it back and fought for composure as he gazed over the various medical counsels, a metal table, several giant test tube tanks that were no doubt for studying specimens, for studying Tony. Ford took a breath and stepped back, shutting the door silently.  
  
"Get a team in here to find evidence of his presence. I want Miner to go away for the rest of his life. I'm going to contact the Captain and inform him of the situation-" His communicator beeped and he immediately responded.  
  
"Ford here."  
  
"Commander, what's the current situation?" Bridger's soft but demanding voice echoed around the room.  
  
"We have Miner in custody, and judging by the amount of illegal animals he has locked up here, he'll be going to prison for a long time. He did have Tony here," Ford took a breath, trying to think about how he should word this, "but he broke out just before we arrived. I believe our man is in the ocean, but sir, I'm not sure of his condition. It can't be great after being locked up in this place for three months."  
  
"Commander, I want you to return and give me a full report. Brody can handle whatever else needs to be wrapped up."  
  
"Aye sir." He ended the connection and nodded at Brody, who was still staring into the room, anger in flowing from his dark eyes.  
  
"Brody, clean up well."  
  
"Yes sir." He nodded and Ford left, heading back to SeaQuest at a pace that spoke of his anger. Every officer he met on his march back cleared from his path and saluted sharply before hustling away. Ford was silent the entire way.  
  
()()Q()()  
  
"Captain, there's something going on outside. Just within scanning parameters." Miguel Ortiz announced as he intently watched his screen. Then Darwin announced that he was going off the ship and instantly disappeared. Bridger looked at the tank a moment with a frown and then turned his attention back to the screen.  
  
"What is it?" "It.looks like a large gathering of sea animals sir." Ortiz sounded perplexed. "I've never seen anything quite like it. I can't get a proper reading on a specific animal, there's too many of them."  
  
"Listen to this." O'Neil suddenly, and brashly, ordered and the bridge was suddenly flooded with sound. Whistles, and clicks, from what must have been at least thirty dolphins. There was lots of movement interference, the water's churned movement creating a swishing static, and then, out of nowhere came one defining sound that echoed with no hesitation through the speakers, around the ship and no doubt miles into the distance. It was powerful and beautiful, deeper than a whale's song but following the same, long held tune, rising and changing in pitch occasionally. All the other creatures seemed to fall silent, not a single whisper was heard on the bridge as its strength wrapped around them. Tim felt his eyes tearing slightly and hastily blinked it back. After about a minute it abruptly ended, and in its absence there was a strange feeling among the crew. It was as if, though the singing had ceased, it had left its memory within the walls, as though it were meant to protect them. Finally Bridger broke the silence".  
  
"What was that? Ortiz, I want to know what's going on in that crowd of creatures, why they're there, and what made that sound. O'Neil, call Darwin back!"  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
"Sir." Ortiz spoke again. "The crowd seems to be.separating. There's a large pod of dolphins heading north, masses of fish, I still can't determine the specific kinds. I'm also detecting about forty eels."  
  
"Eels? Are you sure there is forty of them?" Bridger sounded perplexed.  
  
"Yes sir. There's also.sir there's seven enormous Manta Ray's heading south! I've never seen anything like it!"  
  
"Where there any whales?" Bridger knew it was unlikely, but he had to ask; it was the only creature he could come close to associating that sound with. The call of the Siren.  
  
"No sir." Just then Dr. Wendy Smith walked onto the bridge, tear tracks running down her cheeks and her eyes glistening unashamedly.  
  
"Captain. Tony's coming back. I'm requesting yours and Lucas's presence at the moon pool." She looked into his eyes and the sincerity and hope that mingled with fear and worry instantly had his undivided attention.  
  
"O'Neil, you have the bridge, and please call Lucas to join us." He marched off, following Wendy in the direction of the moon pool. O'Neil turned to look at Ortiz, and through their head set he quietly asked  
  
"Are you picking Tony up on the sensor's?" Ortiz's brows furrowed and he looked up to meet his best friend's eyes.  
  
"Yes, he's with Darwin. They just came from the crowd of animals."  
  
"I hope he's okay." Was all O'Neil said as they promised, in their minds, to talk privately about it later.  
  
()()Q()()  
  
Piccolo held weakly to the base of Darwin's Dorsal and right pectoral fins. He could feel the tickling of the shredded pants at the base of his legs but couldn't be bothered to even get annoyed at it. He was so tired, he just wanted to sleep. He was barley aware as Darwin pulled him through the entrance to the aqua tunnels and towards the moon pool. He was so tired that he didn't even realize when they had stopped moving. Then a hand gently gripped his arm and he was awake so fast he might have been electrified. He tore hastily out of the grip and tried to move away, but Darwin blocked his instinctive retreat. He looked up through the water and realized that it was Captain Nathan Bridger that had touched him, and the difference between his warm hands and the scientist's cold ones should have been enough to distinguish between the two. His panicked adrenalin rush began to ebb and he pushed to the surface. He needed to get out of the water before his body decided to transform back into its natural state, whether he wanted it to or not.  
  
He managed a weak grin, but didn't really hear anything the Captain was saying. Then Lucas was in his line of vision and through his dulled mind he noticed the teenagers intense worry. He mumbled a very quite "Hey Luc" and patiently waited as three sets of arms pulled him bodily from the pool and placed him onto a soft, dry gurney. He instantly felt Wendy's mind gently probing, to see if she could gain knowledge of his injuries from his mind. He politely blocked her out, forgetting that he hadn't told her he could do that. She looked at Bridger and said something, something about tests, and Piccolo instantly disagreed.  
  
"No tests, please. Of any kind. I just need to sleep, I'll be fine once I get some sleep. No more tests." to his own ears his pleading sounded far away, yet he felt it was determined enough to get his point across. Just for extra kick he pleaded to her with his mind and then, feeling safe, he drifted into the sleep he craved so much.  
  
Wendy Smith had seen and felt many things, but she had never felt so much exhaustion coming from one person. Whatever had happened to him had placed him in an energy comatose. She wanted to cry, but her professional persona was in place and she was brisk but gentle as she worked. They'd pulled him out of the water, after their initial attempt had scared him to move quickly, more quickly than she thought possible, to the bottom of the shallow pool. Her mind catalogued the incident, he'd instinctively retreated from human contact in fear. Upon recognition he'd succumbed to them with no hesitation, and again she'd had to fight to control her tears. It was because of that trust in them that she had abided by his pleads to just be left to sleep, and not run any tests to determine his condition, no matter how much her physician instinct begged her to.  
  
Lucas and Bridger wore equal masks of worry, their gazes hardly breaking from the sleeping mans form as Lucas had gently placed a blanket over Tony and lightly tucked him in before they wheeled him to the infirmary. There was something in the young mans eyes though, something that Wendy read as a mixture of guilt and hate and love. Each emotion seemed to war heavily within him and she made another note to speak with him later.  
  
Upon entrance to the empty infirmary she asked them to stay a while, so that they could help her transfer Tony after she dried him and changed him into a med gown. It took twenty minutes, and during that time she was all too aware of how well developed his muscles had been kept, yet how much mass he seemed to have loss. Often the result of too much exercise and not enough food. Whether Tony had been given the food and hadn't eaten it was another question.  
  
His gills were slightly inflamed, but she didn't touch them. She had no experience in that area at all, despite her attempts at getting him to let her examine him for just such instances. There were some inflamed scratches on his chest that looked suspiciously like they came from a human hand, she applied an ointment and let it do its work.  
  
She'd stared at his pants, which where glistening in the overhead lights. The base of them looked tailored to specifically be shredded, no doubt extremely annoying whenever they contacted his ankles. As an afterthought she scratched her own and paused, thinking about the action. She recalled the amount of times these last three months, that she had felt a tickle on her leg, but she wasn't sure if these two instances were connected. Could she have been picking up the annoying sensation from him? She wasn't sure.  
  
She stood and stared at Tony for a moment, and finally let her worry show. Three months he'd been going through God knows what, all because of his gills. If he had it his way she, and everybody else, would never fully know. Yet despite that she felt things would be okay, it would take time of course, but it would be okay. Now, she needed to focus more on his apparent psychic abilities that had apparently come forward within his time in that scientific prison. She'd known he'd had the abilities, but they were weak and highly undeveloped, however; Dagwood seemed certain that Tony had purposely manipulated his memory somehow. It was so much to think about all at once, she needed some time to herself.  
  
Calling the Captain and Lucas back in she noticed that Commander Ford followed them, his face more worried than theirs, as if he had more of an idea of what happened to Tony. She watched him carefully a moment, and when he picked up on her gaze he just nodded grimly. She'd have a talk with him later too.  
  
They helped her move Tony's short but heavy slumbering form, now completely dry, onto a bed and wrapped him in blankets. He didn't move. Lucas took a chair and sat down on his right side, gently pulling out his arm so he could hold his hand. Though none of them knew exactly what was going on they were going to consider Tony as sick and recovering. Lucas stared at his best friend and roommate sadly, but didn't say anything. In general agreement by all in the room Wendy pulled the curtain and left the two alone. She followed Bridger and Ford into her office and they spoke for an hour over what Ford thought had happened. By the end they determined that Tony had been held as a pet that was experimented on, but they didn't know how. Two days later it would become apparent that there was not one word of information left in Miner's computer about what they did to Tony. And Tony had woken up, moved back to the room he'd shared with Lucas, and promptly fell asleep again.  
  
Darwin wasn't saying anything about the large assortment of animals that Tony had been in just before his return to the ship and everything was getting back to normal.in a manner of speaking. Lucas was very tight lipped about his feelings and he spent as much time with Tony as his duty shifts allowed. The crew was happy with his return and at the one appearance he'd made to the mess hall had him in high spirits and greeting everyone with his usual open and joking manner. Except for his obvious tiredness he was obviously okay. When asked what happened he'd given the speech of "they put me in tanks of water and basically watched me breath. A couple of x-rays happened, a few examinations.nothing short of what the UEO did his first time around." That comment had seemed to bother Lucas and Dagwood but nobody else seemed to notice the comparison, not even Wendy. Though whether she missed it because of Tony's interference or her own lack of perception shall remain unsaid.  
  
Now it was two weeks later and Tony was almost at full energy level again, which meant he was already more restless than any member on the crew. At his insistence he'd been put back to work and was happy, but Lucas wasn't. He watched Tony as much as he could, and being the only person that really lived with the man, he was the only person privy to the silent gasp of fear that constantly woke his friend in the middle of the nights. And he was the only one privy to seeing Tony slip out the door to go and swim with Darwin for an hour.  
  
Lucas had been in turmoil since Tony got back, but not because of his feelings of guilt at his lack of concern to his friend's disappearance in the first place. He'd had a long talk with Tony about that, and the man had stated quite firmly that he deceived the entire crew to the best of his abilities, which meant that Lucas had nothing to feel guilty about, and the fact that he'd been apart of Tony's search and fumbled rescue was more than the man could have ever hoped for in a friend. That had settled Lucas's doubts in himself as a friend, but what it hadn't settled was why Tony had set out to deceive them in the first place.  
  
It was apparent that he'd gone willingly with Miner, at least at first, but nobody knew why he'd gone to such great lengths to deceive them. Tony hadn't come out and said it, despite the questions directly asked, but he had dropped the hint that Miner held something over his head, and that it wasn't based solely on Tony. Lucas had figured, right off the bat, that it had something to do with a threat against the crew of SeaQuest, but apparently nobody would ever know because Tony didn't give any other information about it.  
  
The problem was that Lucas knew more than anybody else, and he was afraid. He was afraid he'd lose his friend if he asked him for the truth. He was afraid of hurting his friend, but in the end his need for the answers drove him to the moon pool one early morning, to where Tony had recently gone. When he arrived he heard Tony arguing quietly with Dagwood, and Darwin's clicks where in the back ground, ignored by the two men, one artificially bred, the other a fish. Lucas stayed silent a moment and listened, trying to figure out what was going on. It worried him that these two would fight, seeing as Dagwood was the person closest to Piccolo after Lucas.  
  
"Dagwood, you're not making any sense! I didn't erase your memory! How could I?" Piccolo looked nervous despite his insistent words.  
  
"I remember Tony. I know you didn't want to leave, and I know you made me forget so we wouldn't find out what you were doing!" The big man slowly insisted. "I know something else too." He said, almost as if he wasn't sure he should keep speaking. Tony just frowned back at him and waited politely for him to continue, curious. "I know it was you who sang out loud into the water!" Tony's face faltered and Lucas felt his shoulders tense.  
  
"Dagwood, I heard about that but I don't think my vocal cords could quite manage something of that magnitude." He tried to reason but the Dagger shook his head negatively.  
  
"I know it was you Tony. I felt you, in here." He touched his head, and then his heart. "I know you don't want anybody to know, but I understand. You're different from everyone else. I can feel that too. Ever since I met you you've been different from them!"  
  
"Dag, I'm the same as everyone else here! With the exception of my gills I'm perfectly human!"  
  
"But that's the problem." Lucas finally stood out of the shadows and walked forward, joining the two men who looked at him. Dagwood looked startled but Tony seemed as though he'd been expecting him to jump out and announce his presence. Had he known he was there the whole time? Lucas continued with his point, nervously. "You're not like everyone else here Tony, and don't deny it. Not to us. We know you too well." Tony opened and closed his mouth a moment but Lucas trudged on, wanting to tell the man everything he knew about him. Wanting to relieve himself of the guilt of not being honest.  
  
"I know that you have gills Tony. I know that the UEO didn't give them to you."  
  
"Lucas, you're talking nonsense." "I'm not, you don't need to pretend with us Tony. What the UEO did to you, it was inhuman. What Miner did to you was just as much an act against every ethic a person should have!" Lucas looked right into Tony's eyes, he stared into them so deeply that for the first time he could see blue shift and change colours, like ripples on the waters surface, so faint it wasn't normally noticeable, and Tony shifted his eyes away, aware that Lucas had noticed the true hue of his eyes for the first time. Lucas took a breath. "I know that you're not fully human Tony. I know that your gills are natural." Tony stood silent for a moment, thinking hard.  
  
"Why would you think that Lucas?"  
  
"I wasn't sure until I hacked Miner's computer."  
  
"Nothing was retrieved from that computer, he deleted everything." Tony immediately pointed out, there was a feeling of slight panic around the room.  
  
"I didn't get much when I looked at it. He'd just left a sentence that was extremely well hidden. He said 'In this world you only survive as you are, and not as you were not meant to be.' I deleted that too, but I started thinking about what it meant Tony. And these past few weeks you've been so tired and sick, though nobody really knew how sick you were."  
  
"Lucas-" The teenager didn't let him get another word out, as he continued insistently.  
  
"Just like the first time Tony! Nobody recognized how sick you were when you first came aboard SeaQuest. Darwin didn't let you escape through the aqua tunnels because he knew you couldn't take care of yourself, just like he stopped you from trying to swim away when you first came back on board two weeks ago. Because he knew you needed help, and he trusted us to help you the first time. You trusted us the second time. You trusted us to help you, why can't you trust Dagwood and I to help you now?" He saw Tony's eyes furrow in worry, in fear. He frowned. "Tony, we won't hurt you."  
  
"I know that." Tony said sadly. "If I didn't believe it than I would have been off this ship and out of your thoughts a long time ago. It's complicated Lucas, what I am.I " He stumbled for words and sat down, leaning against the tanks wall.  
  
"Tony prince." Darwin spoke up and Piccolo chuckled without humour.  
  
"Umm, I believe Darwin. Tony is a prince of the water." Dagwood stated and sat beside Tony, patting him lightly on the shoulder. Lucas had never really seen Dagwood act so.grown up around them before. "But for now he stays with us, until he has to go back."  
  
"Dagwood, you guys don't understand. I'm not sure if I can stay."  
  
"Don't be stupid Tony, I might be younger than you."  
  
"you have no idea how much younger." Tony mumbled, wiping his hand down his face.  
  
"But I know that the only reason you'd be leaving us is because you're afraid. You're afraid that because we know that you're.some underwater prince of the ocean, that we'll hurt you, like they did." Tony sighed, and spoke quietly.  
  
"I've been around a long time Lucas, I don't even know my real age anymore, but despite how long I have been alive I'm still trying to understand you humans. I'll be the first to admit that my maturity level is sometimes low, but the fact is that I have never, in my entire life, ever trusted people before. Then I started to trust them, to learn about your society because, lets face it, I have a lot in common with you if I leave the water. Then the UEO got me and I didn't think I ever wanted to be around people again."  
  
"But you came to SeaQuest.doesn't that mean you struck a deal with them?"  
  
"Lucas, I'm still learning about how your societies work, especially your technology. One thing I did figure out is that the more you're in the public eye, the more freedom you really have. I got lucky and managed to break in on a reporters interview in the prison, I introduced the world to my gills and the fact that I was an experiment at the correctional facility. Public knowledge from there allowed me to manipulate them enough to create an identity for me, and from there I worked on my freedom. The problem is that here, on the SeaQuest, I've met the people I'd like to know in this world. I've come to understand that what they did was wrong and not how everybody acts. That's the reason I stayed. Miner is just another demonstration of the idiots up here. They're kind of like sharks, the bigger you are the more dangerous you are. Except for the whale shark of course."  
  
Lucas felt the floor grids digging into his knees but he kept his eyes on Tony. He didn't understand what the man was going through, but he did know that right then and there he'd never respected anything as much as Tony Piccolo. He was his best friend, and despite their, now major, differences, he was more determined than ever to keep him around. He wanted to give him hope in people again, he didn't want him to go back to the ocean to.do whatever it was he did.  
  
"Stay Tony. We won't tell. Just, give us a chance to make it up to you." The blue eyes finally met his again, and this time the look was determined and sure, and so old that it took Lucas's breath away. Amazing how eyes, when you really looked, could tell you ones true age.  
  
"Lucas, you have nothing to make up for. Nobody on the SeaQuest does. I know that the people who did those things to me, they act on their own. I am not planning on leaving you yet, there's too much to see to give it up. Besides, you guys are the first real friends, well human friends, I've ever had." He didn't get a chance to finish because Lucas was smothering him with a hug. Apparently Dagwood felt he needed to join in and his strong arms momentarily crushed them both.  
  
"Okay, okay." Tony hissed, trying to get them to back off. "I think I've done enough soul searching and truth telling to last you a life time. I've got to talk to Darwin a moment, so I'll see you guys later." They graciously took the hint and left, then Tony stripped to his boxers and jumped in the water. Darwin swam to him and for a few minutes he floated there, the dolphin leaning against his side.  
  
Lucas and Dagwood now knew, and though it was terrifying to willingly give up his secret, he had to admit he felt better having two people on his side. He felt content, but he'd have to be careful for a while. He was sure Wendy suspected something, and Ford and Brody knew more than they were letting on. Miguel and Tim had appeared just fine, but he suspected that they knew something as well. They were all high quality individuals, and he trusted them enough to stay for a while. He wanted to make sure that they were all kept safe anyway, and he couldn't do that if he wasn't with them.  
  
"Tony sing." Darwin requested but Tony replied negatively and kept floating. His people, or animals he should call them, they had helped him when he needed it. They'd brought him back without question, but at the time he'd felt as if her were abandoning them. He couldn't think of any way to thank them for their aid, though they said they would never have it any other way. He'd felt so free, so powerful and surrounded by beauty when he was in the water. Using the last of his strength he'd called out, to the ocean and every creature in it. He called out to announce that he would always be there for them, that he was free, that he would survive anything. And then he'd headed back to SeaQuest, leaving them in an awed silence. Apparently Dagwood and the entire crew had heard him clearly, but only Dagwood, and now maybe Lucas had figured out that it had been him. You see, the prince of the ocean, as he'd been dubbed century's ago, had returned, he was just making sure that everyone knew it. 


End file.
